Max Verstappen happy to make mistakes in F1

Max Verstappen

Verstappen happy to make mistakes in F1

He might not have got to F1 if they happened somewhere else.

Matthew Scott

Wednesday 19 June 2019 15:52

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Max Verstappen says making mistakes in the early stages of his Formula 1 career is an acceptable price to pay, as making them in lower categories may have blocked his path to ever making it to the grid to begin with.

Verstappen debuted in F1 as a 17-year-old with Toro Rosso in 2015, becoming the youngest grand prix racer in history.

He has since won five races and is regarded as a champion in waiting, but his early years were characterised by a bold style occasionally spilling over on-track, especially in his early days at Red Bull, which saw the Dutchman tangle with Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.

But Verstappen says making mistakes at the highest level was the best place to do so.

"I only had one year of F3 experience, and of course you make some mistakes in Formula 1 which maybe other people did in juniors or whatever," he told RACER.

"But for me that's fine. I prefer to be at the highest level and make the mistakes and learn from it, instead of being in the lower categories and then maybe some mistakes then can cost you your career in Formula 1."

Although just 21, Verstappen is now in his fifth season and is the senior driver at Red Bull alongside Pierre Gasly, following Daniel Ricciardo's departure to Renault.

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Verstappen is comfortable with the expectations that adds, with his feedback now even more crucial in developing Red Bull's car.

"Personally, I always feel like I can feel what the car is doing," he added. "For my age anyway, I'm very experienced at that because of working with my dad from a very young age, trying to give good feedback.

"So I never felt like it was a big pressure or anything to maybe step it up a bit within the team, because I felt like I was already giving the right information."